Pyrolysis of biomass lignocellulosic waste using CeO2-HY catalysts for sustainable bio-oil and bio-composites production

Abstract

The search for sustainable alternatives for chemical products production and for industrial effluent treatment, by waste recovery and utilization, has stimulated the development of multifunctional materials with diverse applications that are also reusable. In this work, the catalytic conversion of green coconut biomass residues was conducted to produce bio-oil enriched with phenolic compounds and bio-composites for use as catalysts in conversion cycles and adsorbents of environmental contaminants. The CeO₂-HY catalyst was prepared by mechanosyntesis method and used in green coconut conversion by fast pyrolysis at 600 °C with subsequent analysis of the bio-oil by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The starting biomass, biochar, the catalysts and bio-composites produced after pyrolysis were characterized to monitor the compositional, structural, and morphological changes that occurred before and after the process. Thermochemical studies (based on kinetic and thermodynamic parameters) and the efficiency-to-cost ratio indicated greater potential for catalysts containing CeO₂, additionally, the results indicated the catalysts applied in the process substantially modified the chemical profile of the products, depending on the type of catalyst used. The CeO₂/HY catalyst exhibited synergistic behavior, resulting in greater amount of toward phenols and esters or furans and ketones in liquid products. The produced bio-composites contains some differences in relation functional groups presents and thermal stability, which were dependent on the catalysts used. Due this they presented different skills as adsorbent and catalysts in subsequent studies. Although all most adsorbents based on bio-composites were moderated adsorbents, CeO₂ showed significantly higher results. When applied as catalysts in reuse studies, the CeO₂-HY composite catalyst showed the least variation in the quantities of the produced compound classes, in the cycles of reuse studied. The data obtained demonstrate the viability of using these catalysts and bio-composites in waste biomass valorization to produce added-value chemical products, and also wastewater treatment processes.